


The Reckless and the Brave

by Skaboom



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: CIA agents - Freeform, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Secret Relationship, enjoy?, pretty much EVERY cliche spy trope in the book, spy AU, there is some violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-09
Updated: 2018-01-09
Packaged: 2019-03-02 16:46:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13322325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skaboom/pseuds/Skaboom
Summary: When Agent Liam Dunbar, the CIA’s golden boy, goes dark on a mission, it’s up to Theo Raeken, an agent who has been benched for reckless behavior, to rescue not only the agency’s best player, but the man that he loves. With only tech whiz Mason Hewitt by his side, Theo goes into the Argentinian jungle, unsure of what dangers await him in a risky, uncertain, and perhaps most challenging of all, unsanctioned rescue mission.





	The Reckless and the Brave

**Author's Note:**

> I have been wanting to do a classic Spy movie AU for Thiam for a long time, so here y'all go! Title from All Time Low, I hope you enjoy! This fic was beta'd by Kaijucade and Lameassthiam! If you go to tumblr (purplehoodiesandleatherjackets) you can see the lovely graphic board made by eliestarr for this fic!

Theo wasn’t supposed to walk into the briefing room, but that rarely stopped him from doing...anything. 

That’s part of why he was on the bench. While he was one of the CIA’s top agents skill-wise, he had a knack for turning off his comms, disobeying direct orders, and doing whatever the hell he wanted. Sure, he got results, but the agency had decided that the costs weren’t worth the risks that he was taking, both morally and financially, so now, Theo? He was going crazy. Three months riding a desk when he knew he should have been in the action was killing him. 

What he didn’t expect to see when he walked into the briefing room was Liam Dunbar’s face on the screen, followed by a whole lot of statistics. 

“Wait,” he frowned. “What’s going on?”

“This is a closed briefing, Agent Raeken,” Director Deaton informed him, brow furrowed, arms crossed intimidatingly over his broad chest 

“Okay.” Theo stepped back, closing the door the rest of the way. “Door’s closed. What’s going on?”

“Mr. Raeken-”

“He’s already seen,” Mason Hewitt pointed out from where he was behind a laptop, running the briefing. 

“Fine.” Deaton turned his attention back to the screen. “Agent Dunbar has gone dark.”

“What?” 

That was...unexpected. And frightening. Liam was the Agency’s golden boy. He had gotten a perfect score on the entrance exam, he had aced every training, and graduated at the top of his class. He followed rules, he listened to directions, and he worked skillfully with his handler, Corey, and his tech operative, Mason. He had succeeded, to the letter, on every mission that he had ever been in. He was the poster child for the CIA. 

And he was Theo’s boyfriend. 

Of course, that last part, nobody knew. They hadn’t figured out how to bring that into the workplace, or even if they should. It would complicate things, they were both sure of that, and at the end of the day, it probably wasn’t worth it...especially since they hadn’t  _ meant  _ to fall in love. 

It had started out at a bar after a mission they had worked together. Things had gotten dicey, and a combination of Liam’s intense spars, and Theo’s guts had gotten them out of a situation that, honestly, they had no business surviving. A combination of the strong drinks they had both opted for, and the adrenaline of their shared near death experience, had sent them into bed together, for what both had expected to be just one wildly passionate night. 

Well, that one night stand had turned into two, and then three, and their arguing became foreplay, and somewhere in the months of them teasing each other, and fighting, and screwing, they had fallen in love. 

And now Liam was missing, and Theo didn’t know  _ what  _ to do, but he knew that he had to do something. 

He leaned against the wall, trying to play casual as he listened to them talk about how Liam had stopped responding 5 hours ago, something basically unheard for for the golden child. He hadn’t checked in, he hadn’t sent any information, and perhaps worst of all, his tracker had be deactivated. 

As they were in the middle of discussing what to do, because Liam had so much information that could be extracted from him, Theo spoke up. 

“Send me to go get him.”

“What?” Deaton turned, eyebrow raised. 

“Send. Me. To. Go. Get. Him.” Theo said. “It’s not rocket science.”

“You’re not cleared for active duty, and even if you were-”

“You have an agent who has disappeared in a South American jungle while tracking drug traffickers with a nefarious political agenda,” Theo said, still trying to sound nonchalant. “I’m pretty sure that sort of thing warrants a little outside of the box activity, and who is better at thinking outside the box than I am?”

“Mr. Raeken-”

“I’m not finished,” Theo said with a smirk. “All you REALLY know is who he was tracking and where he last was, am I right? By the time you get an agent on the ground there, he will have been dark for, what, almost 10 hours? You need someone who isn’t going to let the rules get in the way, don’t you? Sure, I may be a little reckless, but you can’t argue that I get results.”

“I’m sorry, but we just can’t let you do this. Even if you are the best choice for this, you’re not cleared, you haven’t been active in three months, you’re not-”

“You really look like you could use a cup of coffee,’ Theo interrupted . “Why don’t you all go get one?” Theo asked, tilting his head to the side. “Don’t worry,” he looked around. “I’ll make sure that nothing bad happens to the flash drive with all of the intel for this mission on it.”

Deaton opened his mouth, then closed it again, thinking about what it was that Theo was saying. 

“Coffee.” He nodded, looking around at the other four people, Mason included, that were in the briefing room. “We all could use a cup, couldn’t we?”

There was a mutter of agreement in the room, and Deaton started to move towards the door. 

As everyone cleared out of the room, Deaton whispered in Theo’s ear. 

“If this goes pear shaped,” he said. “You’re the only one around to take the fall.”

“Yes, sir.” Theo nodded, understanding what that meant. If he failed, and if anything happened in that jungle, there wouldn’t be anyone there to rescue him, and if something went wrong, and intel was lost, even if he came back alive, well, this might mean the end of his career. He was, after all, technically stealing information. If things went well, he knew that they could always spin it as a covert, but sanctioned, rescue mission. 

He just hoped things would go well. 

As soon as the room was clear he grabbed the flash drive, pocketed it, and went to get everything that he needed to be wheels up in less than half an hour. 

***   
“Hey.”

Theo looked up from the gear room, where he was shoving things into a backpack. 

“Mason, hey.” He paused, his hand on his pistol. “I wouldn’t try to stop me if I were you.”

“No, that’s...not why I’m here.” He bit his lip. “Liam is my best friend.” He held out his hand, an earpiece in his palm. “I don’t want you going down there blind.”

Theo looked at the earpiece Mason was offering him. 

“If this goes wrong-”

“I know what it means,” Mason said. “My career, potentially your life, Liam’s life. It’s not good, but it’s better than not trying,” he said. “So take it. I’m helping you, and that’s that.”

Theo smirked, taking the ear piece. 

“Thanks, kid.”

“Don’t call me kid.”

“Fine.” Theo zipped his backpack shut, checking to make sure that he had everything he would need. It was barebones, but he didn’t really need much, he didn’t think. “Thanks, Mason.”

“Just bring him back, okay?”

“I’ll do my best.” Theo walked past Mason, clapping him on the shoulder as he did so. 

He had no idea what he was about to walk into, but whatever it was, he couldn’t just sit at a desk while his boyfriend stayed missing. 

***

Theo wasn’t sure that he had ever felt as alone as he did on the plane to Argentina. He had forged the paperwork to put the charter through, but he had a feeling that even the pilot knew what was going on, that Theo was going rogue, yes, but with the blessing of the Director. 

Not only was Liam the best agent that they had, but everyone liked him. No one wanted to see him come back in a body bag, and no one wanted him to disappear. 

Still, Theo was worried. 10 hours was a long time to be dark, and it would be more than that by the time Theo found him. There was so much that was unknown - hell, Liam could be dead already and they would be none the wiser...until they found the body. He tried not to think about that... finding the body. 

Theo had always fronted tough with Liam, acting like he didn’t care about him until it was too late for both of them to pretend that ever again. Even now that they were together, he still had walls up, walls that were crashing down right now. Liam was what mattered here, and Theo was prepared to do whatever he had to to save him. Maybe the agency was sending him in because they believed that he would be that reckless force he always was, but they had no idea just how much his heart was in this mission. He loved Liam, and he had to convince himself that he would be coming back with his boyfriend, and not just what remained of him. 

He tried to busy himself on the flight, going through the gear that he had brought with him, looking at the maps of the area, going over everything that was on the flash drive again, familiarizing himself with the mission that Liam had been working, and by the time the plane was over the drop spot, he was ready. 

Theo took a deep breath as he gripped the bar, turning his body so that he was leaning out of the open door of the plane. Once he jumped, he would be alone on the ground. His only backup was Mason, and Mason was thousands of miles away right now. This was him, and him alone, and it was the most important mission of his life. 

Without any more thought, Theo let go, falling through the sky, thinking that of all of the things he had risked his life for, this was, by far, the most worthy. 

He landed two miles from where Liam’s tracker had last pinged him, so as not to fall into a potential hotbed of activity. He buried the parachute under dirt and leaves before taking off on his hike. 

“I’m on the ground, headed towards the last known location,” he said as soon as he turned his earpiece on.

“I don’t know what you’re headed towards,” Mason admitted. “There’s nothing on the maps where he disappeared. It might not give you much to go off of.”

“I know,” Theo said. “But it’s the only starting point we have.” 

Their conversation didn’t continue. There wasn’t anything to be said, and Theo didn’t want to draw any potential attention to himself by talking if he didn’t have to. He pressed the button on the side of the watch, causing a hologram of a map to pop up, showing him exactly what direction he needed to go in, letting him know that he was growing steadily closer to his starting point. 

It didn’t take Theo long to hike the two miles, and when he reached the coordinates, well, it was just as they had suspected, a clearing void of, well, anything. 

“There’s nothing obvious here,” Theo said. “I’m going to look around, see what I can find, but I’m not sure we’re going to get much.” 

“Copy that. Turn on your jacket cam, I’ll keep an eye out for things as well.”

“You got it.”

Theo switched on the camera on his jacket, so tiny that no one would be able to see it, but it gave Mason eyes as Theo rooted around amongst the ground and leaves. 

“Wait, what’s that?”

“What’s what?” Theo asked. 

“About two inches to your left, something’s under that pile of leaves.”

Theo moved the leaves, sighing. 

“It’s his watch,” he said, lifting a watch that was the same make and model of his own, but this one was broken, the face smashed, glass cracked. “And...his tracker. They didn’t just demagnetize it.” He stared at the bloody, oblong shape on the ground. “Mason…” he paused. “They dug it out of him.”

“Okay.” Mason took a deep breath, and Theo could tell that the kid was trying his best not to let this get to him. What Mason didn’t know was that Theo was doing the exact same thing. “It...it doesn’t look like there’s much blood, which means that either he did it himself-”

“We both know Liam would never do that,” Theo said. “It means that they knew exactly where it was. It means that we’re dealing with people who have more intel on us than we suspected.”

“Alright, well bag it up,” Mason said. “And see if you can find anything else.”

Theo did as he was told, carefully bagging up the broken watch and bloody tracker, just in case there was something on them that could help them in the long run. After all, he wasn’t taking over Liam’s mission to bring these people down. This was a rescue, a hopeful extraction, and nothing else. 

He searched all over the clearing, using a metal detector, everything he had with him, but his search came up empty.

“There’s nothing else here, Mason,” Theo said after almost an hour. “If there was, we would have found it by now. It’s a dead end.”

“Yeah, I’m...not so sure about that, actually,” Mason said, something that sounded almost like hope in his voice. 

“What do you mean?”

“Liam’s tracker just activated.”

“Something in my pack must have triggered it,” Theo said. “I know where the tracker is, that’s entirely unhelpful, have you lost your mind?”

“No, not...not that one.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I made him a backup tracker,” Mason said. 

“That’s not in the brief.”

“Yeah, well, we didn’t tell anyone. You know that friendship bracelet he always wears?”

“That dumb stringy thing? Yeah…”

“It’s in that, it’s a backup, and it doesn’t...it’s not always active, Theo, which means he activated it himself, which means either he gave that secret up, or-”

“He’s alive.” Theo stood, tapping his watch. “Send me the coordinates Mason, and you let me know if anything changes.”

“On it right now, they should come through on your watch in…” he paused, and Theo could hear the tapping of keys. “Now.”

“Got it.” Theo once again pulled up the map on his watch. “Headed towards it. That’s about 10 miles from here."

“So move quickly,” Mason said. “I’ll pull up maps of the area, everything we’ve got, and get you the best route, do my best to let you know what you’re heading into.”

Theo didn’t have to be told twice. He took off at a quick clip, heading towards Liam’s tracker, which he was glad to see wasn’t moving. A moving target? That was always more difficult. 

“What do you have for me?” He asked after the first mile and a half.

“Honestly? Nothing but jungle,” Mason said. “There’s nothing on any of our imaging, there are no buildings near where he’s lighting up, there’s nothing in between except for some rivers and streams. I’ll guide you around them, but...I don’t know, Theo. I feel like I can’t do much to help you here.”

“You’re doing great,” Theo said. 

“We got lucky.”

“No, we didn’t,” Theo retorted. “Liam knows what he’s doing, and if he was able to activate that tracker, well, he knows we’re trying.”

“There’s always a chance that-”

“You and I both know that he didn’t give up that information,” Theo said. “Not about his second tracker, not about anything, and if he had, they wouldn’t have activated it, they would have destroyed it. If they wanted us to be able to find him, they wouldn’t have taken his first tracker. Liam’s not only smart, he’s strong. They haven’t had him anywhere near long enough to break him.”

“You’re right,” Mason said, taking a deep breath. “No, you’re right.” 

“Go get a cup of coffee, Mason,” Theo said. “We’ve got a while before I’m close, and I need you as sharp as possible.”

“Okay. Good luck, Theo.”

“Don’t need it.”

Theo turned his focus away from Mason and on to his hike. It wasn’t an easy one, but he was in good shape, and determined to reach Liam as quickly as he could. He wasn’t letting himself be afraid, not now. Liam had activated a tracker, he was alive, and it didn’t matter what kind of shape he was in. As long as he was alive, Theo could bring him back. 

Theo  _ would  _ bring him back. 

With the adrenaline coursing through his veins, the 10 mile hike didn’t seem to last one, but as he approached the location, his heart stopped. 

“Mason, you there?”

“Yeah, I’m here, what’s up?”

“We’ve, uh...we’ve got a problem…”

“What sort of problem?”

“There’s a compound here.”

“What? No, that’s not possible, there’s nothing on any of the maps, any of the imaging...there’s no way someone could hide that!”

“Well, they did. I’m here, and I’m looking right at it. Check the cam.” He turned his jacket cam back on, showing Mason the compound he could see in the distance. 

“Fuck, I can’t...there’s nothing I can do for you, I don’t have any of the schematics, I don’t know what it is, who it belongs to-”

“Relax,” Theo said with a smirk. “We’re gonna be just fine.”

“How the fuck - Theo, what are you doing? You can’t just go in without a plan!” Mason said as Theo started to move forwards. 

“I’m not! I have a plan!”

“Care to fill me in?”

“I’m gonna sneak in...somehow, and I’m going to get into their system, or rather, get YOU into their system. If I do that, I mean, you can hack it remotely, right? You can get access to plans, to cameras…”

“I mean, yes, theoretically, but we don’t-”

“Do you have a better idea?”

Theo waited a minute, but nothing came over the earpiece. 

“That’s what I thought.”

“Theo, just…”

“What, Hewitt?” Theo asked, starting to get annoyed. He was itching to get in there, to find Liam, to maybe take a few of these fuckers out in the process, and get out. 

“Be careful.”

“We both know that’s not exactly my forte.”

“For Liam,” Mason said. “Just...try. He’d be a wreck if anything happened to you, especially trying to save him.”

“What?” Theo furrowed his brow. “You know?”

“I’m his best friend, of course I know. Now stop wasting time, but just...be careful. For him.”

“I’ll do my best.”

Theo took off, heading quietly, carefully, towards the compound. He used binoculars to suss out the guard situation, looking for the weakest point of entry. It was heavily manned, and as impatient as he was, he waited. After about 20 minutes, one of the guards left his partner, walking off for what looked like a smoke break. Theo saw his chance. He rushed forwards, screwing the silencer onto his pistol as he did so. With a quick, silent double tap, he took out the guard walking away, holstering his gun and making a quick grab for the other guard. He took the man from behind, wrapping an around around his neck, pulling, holding his ground until the guard ran out of air, falling limp in Theo’s arms. 

His brief surveillance hadn’t revealed any cameras, but that didn’t mean that they weren’t there, so he moved quickly, grabbing the keys from the guards waist, as well as his walkie-talkie, just in case, and he snuck into the compound. 

“Good work,” Mason said. “Now, just find a computer, any computer. You’ve got a flash drive in your pack, just plug it in to any computer that’s on, I should be able to maneuver from there. I don’t know what I’ll be able to find, but...just do it.”

Theo didn’t respond verbally, but he headed off, walking quietly through the hallways, his gun in his hand, ready to take out anyone that threatened him. His main goal was to be stealthy, yes, but if his last resort was to gatecrash the place, and take out as many of these assholes as he had to to get to Liam, that’s what he would do. 

He was able to sneak down a hallway, gently, carefully pushing open a few doors. The first was a broom closet, the second completely empty, but the third? He didn’t know what it was - someone’s office, he supposed, but they weren’t in, and as luck would have it, there was a computer. 

“Good job,” Mason said, spotting the computer through the cam. “Turn it on, get the flash drive in the USB, and I should be able to backdoor my way into their whole system. Might take a few minutes, though…”

“Do I need to be in here while you work your magic?”

“Only if you want the drive back.”

“Is there anything on it we need back?”

“Nope.”

“This is never my favorite option,” Theo said, turning on the computer and jamming the drive into the port. “But I think ‘hide in the broom closet’ is my best choice.”

“I don’t disagree, at least until I’ve got the schematics of this place. With that, I can at least guide you around. I’m hoping for camera access, but that can take longer.”

“Just do your best,” Theo said, quickly making an exit from the room. He headed back to the broom closet, his heart racing as he heard footsteps approaching. He managed to get inside, closing the door just in time as two men turned down the hallway. 

Theo pressed his back up against the wall of the closet, listening as the footsteps drew closer. He didn’t know if they had seen him, so he readied himself for that door to open, for someone to attack. All that he could hear through his earpiece was the sound of Mason typing away, so he knew that he didn’t have anything yet, and the footsteps were loud enough that he was sure they were right outside the closet...and then they kept going, the sound getting quieter. 

A quiet sigh of relief escaped Theo’s lips. That had been a close one. 

He waited to say anything to Mason until he was sure they were long out of earshot. 

“How’s it coming?”

“I’m doing my best.”

“Any way that you can do your best a little faster?”

“Not if you want it done properly,” Mason said. “Just sit tight, it should only be a few more minutes.”

Those few minutes felt like agony. Theo didn’t like having to be still, he didn’t like having to wait for things, and the stakes now? They felt so much higher than they had ever been before. He wanted to know everything. He wanted the building plans, he wanted the cameras, he wanted Mason to be able to guide him perfectly to where Liam was, and he wanted to get his boyfriend as far away from this place, whatever it was, as he could. 

The worst of this mission, he knew, was still ahead of him, and he was itching to get to it. He had been out of the field for too long, by his standards, and he wanted to prove to himself, and to the agency, that he could succeed, but more than that? He wanted Liam safe. 

“Theo, you there?” Mason asked after what felt like an eternity. 

“Yeah, what do you have for me?”

“Everything,” he said. “I just patched into cameras. I’ve got floor plans which I’m sending to your watch,’ he said. “And...I’ve got Liam. He’s alive and he’s upright. Go. Get. Him.”

“Yes, sir,” Theo said, feeling a sense of relief knowing that Liam was not only alive, but well enough to be upright. “Talk me there, Mason.”

“Okay.” Mason took a deep breath. “Go left out of the closet, walk down the hall, take a right. There are going to be two guards, but it’s the path of least resistance.”

Theo didn’t speak, but he followed Mason’s directions. He knew that he was going to have to engage, and that was never a safe bet. Sure, he was skilled, and he had the element of surprise on his side, but that didn’t mean that it was a sure thing. 

Still, he didn’t break pace, heading towards the guards quietly, but with confidence. With two shots, they were down, and he reached down, taking the gun off of one of them, tucking it away for later, just in case. He reached into his jacket and reloaded his own weapon. 

“Nice,” Mason said. “Alright, walk about 300 feet, take the door on the left. Should be a stairwell. Go down two floors. When you open the door, there’s gonna be another guy, take him out, and Liam’s in the room just to his left.”

“Okay.” Theo took a deep breath, jogging down the stairs. Liam was close. Mason had assured him of it, and Theo could feel it. 

“Move quickly,” Mason said. “I can see their cameras, and you’re on some of them. I don’t know what they’ve seen.”

“Got it.”

He picked up the pace, opening the door quickly, smashing it into the man standing behind it. 

“HEY!” The man shouted, making a lunge for Theo, tackling him to the ground. Theo didn’t waste any time wrapping his legs around the man’s waist and flipping him, getting the upper hand for himself. He grabbed at the man’s throat, holding him steady as he flailed, attempting to get at Theo. With his free hand, he smacked the man in the head with the butt of his gun, rendering him unconscious. 

With that commotion, he knew that he had to work quickly, so he stood, rushing to the door on the left. He tried the knob, and it was locked. Even with the keys he had gotten off of the guard at the entry, he didn’t feel time was on his side, so he drew back to the other side of the hall, and ran at the door, hitting it with his body as hard as he could. He heard splintering, but the door didn’t open. 

“Jesus Christ,” he muttered to himself, setting up to ram into it again, and again. 

The fourth time was the charm, and as the door caved in, Theo stumbled through it and saw Liam. 

The room was nearly empty, save for a metal table with tools on it, which he tried not to look at, and a chair. Liam was sat in the chair, certainly looking worse for wear. His hands were cuffed behind his back, and a thick blindfold covered his eyes. 

Theo wasted no time. He rushed to Liam, pulling the blindfold from his eyes. 

Liam blinked rapidly, the light a shock to his system, and he looked up through his left eye, the one that wasn’t swollen shut. 

He looked terrible. His shirt was ripped and bloody, his face was covered in bruises and blood, his nose clearly broken, his lip split, but Theo didn’t think he’d ever seen anything quite so beautiful in his entire life. 

“What the hell are you doing here?” Liam asked. “I thought you were benched.”

“Yeah, well,” Theo moved behind him, pulling out his lockpick to work on the cuffs. “Someone had to come save your dumb ass.”

“You’re an idiot, risking your life for - ow, careful,” he said as Theo jostled his right arm. “I think it’s broken.”

“Sorry, princess,” Theo quipped back, because honestly, that was easier than facing the situation. They weren’t out of it yet, and Liam? He was in bad shape. Time would tell just how bad, but he knew that they only had a matter of time before guards were on them like flies on a picnic table.

“Seriously though, you shouldn’t be here. It’s dangerous.”

“I live for this shit, you know that.”

“You could die.”

“And if I don’t get you out of here,” Theo argued. “You  _ will  _ die, and quite frankly, I don’t really have all that much interest in a world without you in it.” He tossed the cuffs aside. “So get up and let me rescue you before -- fuck.”

“Well, well, well, what have we here?”

Several men, militants, by the look of them, crowded the doorway, entering the room. 

Theo acted quickly. He grabbed the metal table in the center of the room, pulling it on its side and grabbing Liam, pulling him down behind it. He pressed a gun into Liam’s hand. 

“You can do this,” he said. 

“I know.” Liam cocked the gun. “Bangladesh?” He said with a smirk.

Theo reached out, putting his hand on the back of Liam’s neck, pulling him into a kiss, not caring that it tasted of blood. 

“Bangladesh,” he said as he pulled away. 

The firefight was instantaneous, and it was hard to tell which bullets were flying from which guns, but Theo and Liam? They knew how to fight together, and even with one party injured, their experience and determination won out. 

“You hit?” Liam asked as he made a break for the door. 

“No, you?”

“I’m good.”

“Good. Mason?” Theo said. 

“Guards coming at you from both angles.”

“Well, what the hell are we supposed to do?”

“There’s a vent in the room you found Liam in,” Mason said. “Get up there, and fucking hurry. You’ve got less than a minute before they’re on you.”

“Vents,” Theo said to Liam. “Come on.” 

It was like the team work they had used in the past. Liam boosted Theo up, and once he was in the vent, Theo grabbed Liam, pulling him back up. They replaced the grate just as the guards descended upon the room. 

“You gotta move faster than that,” Theo hissed at Liam as they army crawled through the small space. “I know you’re in pain, but you have to.”

“I’m trying,” Liam admitted. 

“Here.” Theo stopped. “Get in front of me.”

“What?”

“Just do it!”

It was a tight squeeze, and as Liam moved to pass Theo in the vent, their bodies were pressed tightly together. Theo could feel the rush just being that close to Liam, and while he knew they were far from out of danger yet, all that he wanted was to be at home, pressed flush against him, knowing that this situation was far behind them. 

“Now what?” 

“Now crawl. I’ll fucking push you if I have to, but I did not come this far to lose you now,” Theo barked. 

Liam didn’t reply. He used all of the strength that he could to pull himself through the vents, following the instructions, taking the turns that Mason dictated through Theo. Liam stayed quiet, but Theo could tell from the muted winces and soft whimpers that he was clearly in pain.

“Okay, drop here,” Mason said. “Remove the grate, you’ll be in an empty room, you’re just a few feet from the door. If you make a break for it, you should be good.”

‘Okay.” Theo nodded. “Here, let me go first, we’re getting out here.”

He squeezed past Liam again, moving to remove the grate.

“I’ll drop down,’ he said. “Then I’ll help you down.”

Normally, Liam would have argued, but then again, normally, Liam was the stronger of the two. That wasn’t the case right now. He was injured, he had a broken arm and God knew what else, so he just nodded, allowing Theo to drop. 

“Okay, now it’s just Li- shit, shit, Theo, behind you!” Mason screamed into the earpiece, but it was too late. 

Someone grabbed Theo from behind just before Liam was set to drop down, and seconds later, Theo felt the sharp, cold edge of a knife against his throat. 

“I am so sorry! I don’t know where they came from!” Mason said into the earpiece, clearly distressed by the surprise. 

“Agent Dunbar,” cooed the man holding Theo. “Why don’t you come down here and join us,” he paused. “Alternatively, I could just slice your friend open right here.”

With a heavy sigh, and a wince of pain, Liam dropped down from the vent, raising his hands in the air as he did so. 

“Impressive,” the man said. “Truly impressive, considering not two hours ago, I was breaking your ribs.” He smirked. “A good effort, truly, but it doesn’t look like it paid off, now does it?”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Liam said. “We took care of a lot of your men.”

“Pawns,” the guy said with a smirk. “But you two, you’re not just pawns, now are you? You’ve got a lot of good intel in those brains of yours, and you know what’s funny about having two hostages?”

“Wondering which one of us is going to be the one to kill you?” Theo growled, still indignant, even in the perilous position he found himself. 

“Shut up.” The man pressed the knife harder against his neck, nicking the skin and drawing a small amount of blood. 

“Theo,” Liam said. 

“I trust you,” Theo said, looking right into Liam’s eyes. 

“What?”

“I. Trust. You.”

“Are you sure?” Liam asked, realizing what Theo was saying. 

“Absolutely.”

“Aw, how sweet,” the man laughed. “But I think you’ll both find you’re incredibly vulnerable when there are two of you, I-”

He didn’t get the chance to finish his thought. In a swift move, Liam had grabbed the gun from the waist of his pants and shot straight at Theo and his captor. 

The bullet ripped through Theo’s shoulder, catching the man, knocking them both back, the knife flying away. Liam wasted no time putting two more bullets in the villain, ensuring he wouldn’t be following them. He reached out with his unbroken arm, helping Theo up. 

“Holy shit, I shot you!”

“Clean break,” Theo said with a smirk-covered wince. “Right through the shoulder. Good work, Liam. You’re a fantastic shot. I knew you could do it.”

“Thanks, I…” Liam bit his lip. 

“Not to ruin this moment, but GET OUT OF THERE!” Mason shouted. 

“Oh, right, sorry.” Theo reached out, taking Liam’s good hand. “You good to run?”

“My body’s gonna hate me tomorrow,” Liam said. “But let’s get out of here.”

They took off, both a little worse for wear, but determined. They tuned out those chasing them, thankful for the crowded jungle. It was easy to get away, easy to hide, and they were fast. 

Neither was sure how far they had run when they finally stopped, catching their breaths. 

“Mason?” Theo said. 

“I’ve got a helicopter headed towards you. It’ll be there in half an hour, just lay low.”

“Thank you,” he said softly. 

“Welcome. Good work, Theo. Good work.”

“C’mere.” Theo sat, pulling Liam down next to him. He slid off his jacket, pulling it around Liam’s body. 

“I can’t believe you came for me,” Liam said, instantly digging around in the backpack for the first aid kit once Theo’s jacket was on him. 

“Of course I came for you,” he said softly. 

‘I can’t believe I shot you.” Liam began to clean up the gunshot wound, trying his best to patch it up.

“You were taking out the bad guy, Liam.”

"By putting a bullet in you!”

“Technically through me,” he said. “I asked you to do it. You did the right thing.”

“Theo.” Liam looked at him. “I…”

“It’s okay.” Theo reached up, putting his hand on Liam’s cheek. “We’re going to be okay.”

Liam leaned in, kissing him. He didn’t care that it hurt his split lip, he didn’t care that every inch of his body was screaming in pain. All that he cared about was pulling Theo in close, allowing himself to believe that he was there. 

“I thought that I was going to die,” he said softly. 

“I would never have let that happen,” Theo said firmly. 

“No,” he smiled. “I guess not.”

“Come here,” Theo pulled him around to rest on his chest. “Just relax, okay? We’ll be in the air soon, and then we’ll get you medical attention, and it’s all going to be okay.”

Liam nodded, easing into his position, relaxing against Theo. 

“I didn’t give them any information,” he said. 

“I didn’t think you did,” Theo said with a smile. “They didn’t have you nearly long enough to break you.”

“No,” Liam smiled. “Not even close.”

Theo let things fall to silence, just holding Liam close to him. As the adrenaline calmed, the pain in his shoulder was more noticeable, but he tried not to let it bother him, and before long, Mason’s voice was back in his ear. 

“Alright, chopper is almost there, just be ready for it. It’s gonna let down a lead and you just have to hold on, and you’re home free.”

“Thanks, Mason.” 

Theo shifted, helping Liam up as the sound of the helicopter penetrated the silence. He watched for the lead as it came down. “Come on, hold on to me,” he said. He wrapped the cord around Liam’s waist, hooking it. He then grabbed onto Liam, holding him tight with one hand, and the cord with the other. 

Once they were set, Liam hit the cord twice, signaling that they were ready to be pulled up. 

Theo clung to Liam as the cord was pulled up, lifting them into the air. They had been through this, they had trained for this, and while it was never exactly comfortable to be flying through the air, it wasn’t long until they were in the helicopter, collapsed on the floor, panting. 

The trip home was a blur. Both men were in pain, and the medic had her work cut out for her trying to patch them up before landing at the hospital, where they were further checked out and fixed up. 

After they had been discharged from the hospital, and Liam was sent home to clean up and rest, Theo was called to the director’s office, and he wasn’t at all surprised to see Mason already there. 

“So,” Deaton said. “It appears you received some help after all.”

“If anyone needs to take the fall for this, it should be me,” Theo said. “I was the one who went rogue, not him. He just kept me safe, helped me pull off my own crazy schemes.”

“I couldn’t let him go in blind,” Mason argued. “I don’t care-”

“It worked,” Deaton said. “The risks that you both took paid off. You brought Liam back safe and sound, and you uncovered an operation going on that we were completely unaware of. That compound? How they built that off our radar, I will never know.”

“So…” Mason bit his lip. “I’m...not fired?”

“No. You’re not fired.” Deaton shook his head. “We will be billing this as a sanctioned operation. Mason, we expect you back on duty tomorrow. You are dismissed.”

“Thank you, sir.” Mason bowed his head slightly before heading out of the office before anyone had time to change their minds. 

“Agent Raeken.”

“Director.”

“What you did was reckless.”

“Shit, obviously.”

“You encouraged your partner to shoot you.”

“My mission,” Theo corrected. “He was the target of my mission. I encouraged the target of my mission to shoot me.”

“Still.”

“Hey, it worked!”

“I guess I can’t argue against that,” Deaton said. “You took big risks this weekend...and I was prepared to tell you that this was it for you, that you were done, but...your risks paid off. Liam is back safe, he didn’t give up any information, and as I said, you uncovered something new for us to look into.”

“So…” Theo grinned. “I’m back on active duty?”

“God, no.” Deaton shook his head. 

“What! But I-”

“You’re on injured reserve,” he said. “And after you recover, if you can pass your physicals…”

“I’m back on active duty?”

“I will  _ consider  _ putting you back on active duty.”

“I’ll take it.” Theo smiled. “Thank you, sir.”

“Alright, well...off with you,” Deaton said. “You have some recovering to do.”

“I’m fine, sir.”

“You were shot, Theodore.”

“It’s just a flesh wound, sir.”

“Get out of my office before I change my mind.”

“Yes, sir.” Theo saluted, leaving the office. 

He got into his car, driving to Liam’s place. He let himself in with the key Liam had given him a few months prior. 

“Liam?” He called. 

“Bedroom!” Liam called back. 

Theo walked into the bedroom, flopping down on the bed next to him with an “oof.”

“Hey,” he said, dragging himself up, leaning his back against the headboard. He pulled Liam down, the younger man’s head resting in his lap.

“Did you lose your job?” Liam asked, looking up at him. 

“Nope.” Theo reached down, his hand stroking absentmindedly through Liam’s long hair. “Quite the opposite. Deaton’s even considering letting me back on active once I’m done being injured.”

“I knew you had an ulterior motive in coming after me,” Liam teased. 

“You know that’s not true,” Theo said, looking down at him. “The second I heard you were missing, that was all I needed to know. If they had told me that going after you would have 200% guaranteed me a loss of job, or maybe even been court martialed, I would have done it. You are the only thing in this world that means anything to me, Liam, and you mean  _ everything _ .”

“Stop,” Liam flushed. 

“No.” Theo shook his head. “I thought I’d lost you. When they said you were dark, that you might be dead, I felt my world collapsing. If they hadn’t let me come for you, I would have done it anyways.”

“I…” Liam bit his lip. “Honestly? I know that. When they caught me, that was one of my first thoughts. That I had to stay alive, because I didn’t want you to find my body.”

“Don’t...even say that,” Theo shuddered. “Okay? I don’t want to hear you talk like that.”

“Relax, I didn’t die,” Liam said. “And careful, you’re really venturing into that sappy territory. Your renegade bad boy persona is going to be under review.”

“Not if you don’t tell anyone,” Theo said softly. 

“I told Mason.”

“Yeah,” Theo said with a smile. “I know.”

“I’m exhausted,” Liam said softly.

“Do you want me to go?” Theo asked. 

“Absolutely not. I have never wanted you here more in my entire life.”

“Okay. Good. I would have probably claimed squatter’s rights if you tried to throw me out right now.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“Good.”

“No, I mean…” Liam bit his lip. “You… could claim tennant’s rights.” He paused. “Why don’t you? Would you consider moving in here with me?”

“You’re delirious from trauma,” Theo laughed. 

“No, I’m being serious. I love you, and you love me, we’re together. That’s not changing. You just hurled yourself into a foreign jungle, into a militant compound without ANY backup to save me… I think that puts us on another level.”

“Yeah,” he smiled gently. “I guess maybe it does.” Theo slid down, lying on the bed, pulling Liam close to him. “Get some rest, Liam.” He kissed his jaw. “And when we wake up, we can figure out how we’re going to move all of my stuff while we’re both injured.”

“Yeah?” Liam smiled. “So you’ll move in?”

“Of course I will.” Theo smiled. “I love you, Liam, and I want to spend all of the time that I can with you.”

“You know if you change your address we’re going to have to tell people at work…”

“Mmm, can’t wait to see the look on Deaton’s face when we do that.”

“You’re a monster.” 

“I’m a renegade.”

“You sure are.” Liam cozied up to Theo, closing his eyes, feeling safe in Theo’s arms.  “You’re  _ my  _ renegade.”

Theo just smiled, reaching to switch off the light. He was Liam’s, and Liam’s was his, and maybe their line of work wasn’t always safe, but they had beat the odds once again, and they were together. 

They were together, and as they fell asleep in each other’s arms, that was all that mattered.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading! I'm not great with writing action so sorry if some of it was "too easy" or "glazed over" I did my best, and had fun doing it! This was inspired heavily by the Action day for Thiam Movie AU Fest!


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